DEWALT DW744X 10-Inch Job Site Table Saw with 24-1/2-Inch Max Rip Capacity

Comment: I respect what the other reviewers have said (hey, if you've had a bad experience, you've had a bad experience) but mine has been nothing but positive. I purchased a refurbished saw and it's cut perfectly true from out of the box. All I did was mount it on a stand, install the fence and off to the races. I love the smooth start feature, the saw was set for true 90 degree calibration on the blade and the fence is right on the mark, perfectly parallel. For more specifics:

PROS:
Fence design is beautiful, you just scroll to the right width and the dual track eliminates the wobble you get from other fences.
Deck is wide and the extended fence accommodates even wider widths.
The vertical movement of the blade height is the smoothest and softest of any table saw I've ever used. I'm ready to be spoiled.
The push stick stored inside the fence is a terrific feature.
Tbe soft start works wonderfully.

CONS:
The plastic casing is surprisingly thin and lightweight. I guess it will be fine as long as I don't do anything stupid, but I'm surprised to see something this fragile in a saw. Thicker, stronger plastic would have provided more stability and durability.
The storage slots for the miter gauge are rudimentary at best and awkward when replacing the gauge, but this is a minor point.

All in all, a great saw and a better saw than more expensive models I've used (such as the Makita 2703).

Comment: Did this saw just jump up in price this week?
it seems like it was 399 last time I looked at it.

Comment: The list price here is $966, on sale for $499. I ahve been looking at this saw for the last month, the list price anywhere has NEVER been more than $525 and its on sale at Lowes for $499. Shame on you Amazon com

Comment: The rip fence on the first saw I received would not align parallel to the blade. Out of the box, the rip fence was more than 1/2" out of alignment (manual indicates the fence should be pre-aligned at the factory). Furthermore, I was not able to align the fence following the instructions in the manual - fence was still ~1/8 inch out of alignment with blade.

Amazon customer service was fantastic. The CSR issued me an RMA for the defective saw, and had a replacement saw over nighted to me.

The replacement saw apparently is the latest Dewalt revision. It has a couple of design fixes:

1) The throat plate is redesigned with a lock-down mechanism. Apparently, the old non-locking plate is dangerous, because the manual issues a warning to always have the plate locked when the saw is in use.
2) The blade guard, anti-kickback mechanism, and splitter have been totally redesigned. The splitter now has two positions: one for through cuts, and a second for non-through cuts. The old splitter only had one position, and required adjustment using shims - no shims with the new splitter!

The new saw set up was as advertised. No major adjustments needed out of the box. The fence is perfectly parallel with the blade.

The new saw also comes with a push stick.

Here is a link to the Dewalt web page with a picture of the new saw - note the change in blade guard.

[...]

Summary observations:

Questionable manufacturing quality: The fence and rack-and-pinion mechanism on the first saw were not even close to being adjusted correctly. The box showed no signs of damage to indicate the problem was due to a shipping problem.

Questionable engineering quality: The throat plate and the blade guard/splitter assembly re-design appear to address defects with the original saw design.

Questionable documentation quality: The original documentation indicated the saw comes with a push stick. In fact, it only came with instructions on how to make a push stick. The new saw comes with a push stick.

I've not used the saw yet, so I have no feedback on operational quality.

However, if you're thinking about buying this saw, make sure you get the new saw with the design fixes mentioned above (look for new blade guard style and included push stick).

Comment: I bought this saw primarily as a job site saw but it has seen some service in the workshop as well. It is ideally a two man lift not so much because of the weight but because it's awkward to man handle on your own, owing to the large table. I also purchased the additional outfeed and side supports which are great but they also add weight to the saw which have made it even heavier. As i work on my own the additional 30 inches of outfeed support has to be balanced against the extra weight.

The saw sits securely on the stand and has all the power anyone should need in a contractor saw. The rack and pinion fence is excellent and the best on the market in my opinion. I place the fence on the right hand side of the blade so the rip scale is set for me, anyone who sets the fence on the left will have to use their tape measure. The rip scale was out by a 1/16 of an inch and the fence was a 1/32 of an inch out of parallel with the blade. The mitre gauge seems as on all contractor saws to have been a bit of an after thought, there is a 1/16 of an inch of slop between the gauge bar and the gauge slots. This is not a huge issue for me as i rarely use it, when i do use the mitre gauge i push against the side of the mitre slot nearest the blade when making a cut.

There is onboard storage for spare blades and blade spanners, it's a pity Dewalt couldn't have included a cord wrap and onboard storage for the mitre gauge. There is an aluminum shield with a rubber extension which covers the bottom of the blade underneath the saw, this seemed to be holding the sawdust and overheating the motor. I removed it, it might be intended to be left in place if a shop-vac were attached to the dust port. I also removed the blade guard and the riving knife, these imo are workshop acessories.

The threaded bar that is attached to the handle that raises and lowers the blade is exposed, hence the threads get clogged with saw dust. Making it almost impossible to raise and lower the blade, i modified a piece of plastic tubing with a slightly larger diametre than the threaded bar by slitting it down the middle and slipping it over the bar. This has kept the saw dust off.

In conclusion i would'nt advise someone working jobsites on their own to buy this saw, it's just a bit too heavy and awkward. Ideally i'd leave the DW744 in the workshop and buy the DW745 which has the same size motor but with a reduced rip capacity and hence smaller table.

Just a little update on the above, the fence on my saw has a tendancy to drift towards the back of the blade which burns my stock as it clears the blade. This always seems to happen no matter how many times i re-adjust the fence. There are two 10mm bolts under the fence at the back of the table which need to be loosened to adjust the fence for parrallel. I recently went to re-adjust the fence and ended up tightening the bolts when i should have been loosening them, this sometimes happens when the bolt heads are facing down rather than up. I stripped out the threads in the bolt housings which unfortunatly are part of the cast table. I took the saw to the service centre and they gave me three options, thread locking compound, a new table, or a new saw. I choose the tread locking compound as a temporary fix, a new table will cost me 250 Euro. Expensive mistake.